Chad didn’t think so. Camden was a hothead. Impulsive. Lazy. He was also a stoner. He’d probably found what he thought was a perfect spot, sat there for a while. Then got bored. Second-guessed himself. Moved. Then moved again.

Chad had little doubt he and his brothers could find him and mitigate any threat.

But could they do it before the police officers arrived?

They’d been able to leave Lobster Cove ahead of the cops, as they’d had to call in for officers from nearby towns with SWAT experience.

Chad and his brothers would likely get in trouble for lying to the police and telling them they wouldn’t go to the cabin, but they’d all agreed to do it anyway, despite the consequences.

They had probably about ten minutes to find and neutralize Camden before the police descended on the area. If that happened, their target would probably flee like the coward he was. Regroup. Possibly decide to strike again another day.

Which was unacceptable. They needed to end the threat from the Calverts today. Here and now. And they had limited time to do so.

Piece of cake.

Chad and his brothers had spent hours playing soldiers in the woods around Lobster Cove. As young boys, they’d learned how to be quick and stealthy. They’d only honed those skills during their time in the military. Camden was as good as caught.

Zach had volunteered to be bait. Knox, Lincoln, and Chad would all get out of the SUV a ways from the cabin, and Zach would drive in by himself. He’d hopefully draw Camden out so the other brothers could sneak up and subdue him.

Chad’s adrenaline was spiked, and he wanted nothing more than to march up to the cabin and wrench open the door, hopefully finding both Britt and his mom safe and sound .

.. maybe a little scared, but okay. And even though none of them thought Camden had combat experience, or the smarts to be able to outmaneuver them, no one was taking any chances with the lives of the missing women.

They knew better than to underestimate a desperate man.

By the time Chad, Lincoln, and Knox got out of the SUV and Zach slipped into the driver’s seat, they were all more than ready for a confrontation. The three brothers stealthily made their way through the woods toward the cabin, splitting up to be able to cover the area more thoroughly.

It wasn’t long before voices could be heard through the trees, causing Chad to break into a jog.

Peering around a large tree, he saw Zach standing in a small clearing in front of the cabin, with Camden before him—holding him at gunpoint with a shotgun.

Chad’s blood ran cold. They all knew Otis’s son had to be unbalanced if he thought kidnapping two women to use as bait to kill the entire Young family was the best way to stay out of jail ... but actually seeing him holding his youngest brother at gunpoint flipped a switch in Chad.

No one hurt his family. His mom. His brothers. Britt.

“Calm down,” Zach said, holding his hands up, showing Camden he was unarmed.

“Where are the others? I know you didn’t come here alone!” Camden yelled.

“They’re on their way. I was the first to leave,” Zach lied.

“You’re lying! Why are you in Knox’s car?”

The bad thing about Camden working at Lobster Cove was that he knew a lot about the family ... including what vehicles everyone drove.

“Camden, where’s Mom? Is she okay?”

“Shut up! Just shut up ! Get over there,” he ordered, using the shotgun to indicate where he wanted Zach to go ... a spot in the trees to one side of the dirt drive, about twenty yards from the cabin ... that had what looked like a giant bonfire prepared and ready to burn.

Chad wanted to roll his eyes. The last place to set up a fire was in the middle of a freaking forest, but no one had ever claimed Camden was all that smart.

But the reason why he wanted Zach closer to the bonfire made Chad extremely wary.

Did the man seriously think he could burn all evidence of murdering six people?

He was totally insane—and it was time to end this so they could get into the cabin and find their mom and Britt.

Chad saw Lincoln peek around the other side of the cabin, and Knox was heading through the woods directly opposite the firepit. They were closing in on Camden, surrounding him.

The four men moved as if they’d rehearsed the moment.

Facing the dirt road that served as a driveway, Camden slowly followed Zach as he inched backward toward the firepit, not taking his eyes off the weapon or the man holding it.

Camden was so focused on Zach that he didn’t notice the danger coming up from behind him.

Chad and Lincoln closed in as Camden pumped the shotgun in preparation for shooting Zach.

His brother wisely hit the dirt the same time Knox let out a loud whoop as he darted out from the cover of the trees to Camden’s left.

As they’d hoped, Camden turned toward the sound, swinging the shotgun around.

Lincoln got to Camden first and went for the gun.

He jerked it up and out of his hands, and Chad was there to take over.

He punched Camden in the face as hard as he could, needing and wanting him out of commission as soon as possible.

No one wanted to chance him having a second weapon hidden on his person.

The sound of his knuckles making contact with Camden’s face was obscenely loud in the otherwise quiet woods. Much to Chad’s disappointment, Camden went down like a ton of bricks. Lay motionless on the leaf litter and pine needles covering the clearing.

Chad waited for him to move, to get up, to continue the fight ... but all he did was moan a little.

“Good shot, bro,” Lincoln said.

Chad was already moving toward the cabin. As soon as he saw Camden wouldn’t be a problem anymore, his focus turned to finding his mom and Britt. Knox was right on his heels. Chad’s momentum had him hitting the front door hard.

“Britt! Mom!” he yelled as he stupidly tried to turn the doorknob. Of course it was locked. “Stand back!” he shouted. “I’m going to break the door down!”

The fact that neither woman answered made panic sweep through Chad’s body.

It was an odd feeling. Normally he was the calm one.

Being a sniper had taught him to keep control over his emotions in extremely stressful situations.

But all the training in the world wasn’t helping him at this moment.

All he could picture in his head was one or both of the women he loved lying hurt, or worse, within the walls of this piece-of-shit cabin.

He took a step back and kicked the door.

It didn’t budge. All it managed to do was send pain up Chad’s leg and knee.

“Fuck!” he muttered. “Is this door steel or what?”

“Let me try,” Knox insisted, pushing him to the side. But he had as much luck as Chad.

“How about we try the key?” Lincoln said dryly from behind them.

Spinning, Chad saw his oldest brother holding up a key. He must’ve searched Camden’s pockets.

Feeling a little stupid that he hadn’t even thought to do that, Chad held out his hand for the key. Lincoln immediately handed it over.

Thankfully, the key worked. As Chad turned the knob, his heart was in his throat.

The door slammed open and he stepped inside, followed by Lincoln and Knox. Zach was probably watching over Camden, making sure he didn’t regain consciousness and either run or come after them once more.

As much as he’d dreaded finding either of the women hurt, it felt worse when Chad got inside and found ... nothing.

No one was there. The one-room cabin was sparsely furnished, and the place obviously hadn’t been used in what was probably years. A musty scent filled the air, but under that, Chad swore he could smell the coconut lotion Britt always wore.

She’d been here, but she wasn’t any longer.

Thoughts of the fire Camden had planned overwhelmed Chad. Were they too late? Had he taken his mom and Britt out and shot them already? His emotions careened from sorrow to frustration to grief, and then anger, in mere seconds.

His muscles tightened as he prepared to go back outside and end Camden Calvert’s life before the cops arrived, when his brother spoke.

“Look!” Lincoln said, heading for one of the corners of the small cabin.

Chad rushed over and saw what he should’ve seen at first glance. A damn hole in the wall! Broken boards that had once served as part of the wall were strewn around the floor.

“They got out,” Chad breathed, relief making him dizzy.

In tandem, the three men spun and headed for the door. Camden might’ve locked the women inside the cabin, but they hadn’t been cowering in fear, waiting for rescue. No, they’d been doing everything in their power to get themselves out of the situation.

Pride filled him. His mom was a badass. He’d already known that, but she’d just proved it once again.

And Britt? So much love filled him at the thought of her that he felt shaky with it. She was exactly the kind of woman he’d dreamed of finding. Of spending the rest of his life with. Strong. Resilient. Resourceful.

Lincoln, Knox, and Chad burst out of the cabin.

“Mom?”

“Britt?”

“Hello?”

They all called out at the same time, pausing to listen for a response.

But the woods around them were silent. Too silent. As if every creature that lived there was holding its breath.

“Which way do you think they would’ve gone?” Knox asked.

“Not south,” Chad said without hesitation. “Mom would know he’d taken them south of Lobster Cove, and she’d figure there’d be more people to the north than south to the coast.”

“I agree ... but what if she’s hurt? Not thinking straight?” Knox asked, playing devil’s advocate. “Would Britt know which way is north?”

“I don’t know. I’m thinking probably not,” Chad said.

“Right, so we’ll split up,” Lincoln ordered. “Just in case they wandered in a direction we don’t expect. I’m not leaving anything to chance. Chad, you go north. I’ll go west. Knox, you go east.”

“I’ll tie this asshole up and go south,” Zach said from beside Camden, who was still lying unmoving in the dirt.

“No. I don’t trust him. The police should be here soon. If you can tell them what’s going on and which directions we’re already looking, they can go south,” Lincoln said.

Chad had no problem letting his brother take charge. It was a role he was born into, being the oldest, and being a fighter pilot meant he had to make split-second life-or-death decisions every time he got behind the controls of the multimillion-dollar planes he used to fly.

And frankly, Chad was too worried about his missing mom and girlfriend to think straight himself.

He turned and headed north, hoping to find that the most important women in his life were safe and unhurt.